Covenant Students
Basic Response - The Bible
Covenant Students meets on Wednesday nights at 7pm in The Outpost on the campus of New Covenant Church in Longview, Tx.
Locations & Times
Covenant Students
5621 Farm to Market Rd 2087, Longview, TX 75603, USA
Wednesday 7:00 PM
In this new series, Basic Responses, I want to talk about two things:
1. The basics of our faith
2. Our responses to critics
1. The basics of our faith
2. Our responses to critics
QUESTION:
When that person who led you to the Lord talked to you, did they use the Bible to tell you about Jesus?
When that person who led you to the Lord talked to you, did they use the Bible to tell you about Jesus?
The Bible
The word “Bible” comes from the Latin and Greek words meaning “book.”
Sixty-six different books comprise the Bible. They include books of law, such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy; historical books, such as Ezra and Acts; books of poetry, such as Psalms and Ecclesiastes; books of prophecy, such as Isaiah and Revelation; biographies, such as Matthew and John; and epistles (formal letters) such as Titus and Hebrews.
About 40 different human authors contributed to the Bible, which was written over a period of about 1500 years. The authors were kings, fishermen, priests, government officials, farmers, shepherds, and doctors. From all this diversity comes an incredible unity, with common themes woven throughout.
The Bible’s unity is due to the fact that, ultimately, it has one Author—God Himself. The Bible is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). The human authors wrote exactly what God wanted them to write, and the result was the perfect and holy Word of God (Psalm 12:6; 2 Peter 1:21).
The Bible is divided into two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. In short, the Old Testament is the story of a nation, and the New Testament is the story of a Man. The nation was God’s way of bringing the Man—Jesus Christ—into the world.
The Old Testament describes the founding and preservation of the nation of Israel. God promised to use Israel to bless the whole world (Genesis 12:2-3). Once Israel was established as a nation, God raised up a family within that nation through whom the blessing would come: the family of David (Psalm 89:3-4). Then, from the family of David was promised one Man who would bring the promised blessing (Isaiah 11:1-10).
The New Testament details the coming of that promised Man. His name was Jesus, and He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament as He lived a perfect life, died to become the Savior, and rose from the dead.
Our statement on the Bible at NCC:
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, God’s recorded Will, through holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant, as recorded in the New Testament, we accept as our infallible guide in matters pertaining to belief and conduct.
The word “Bible” comes from the Latin and Greek words meaning “book.”
Sixty-six different books comprise the Bible. They include books of law, such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy; historical books, such as Ezra and Acts; books of poetry, such as Psalms and Ecclesiastes; books of prophecy, such as Isaiah and Revelation; biographies, such as Matthew and John; and epistles (formal letters) such as Titus and Hebrews.
About 40 different human authors contributed to the Bible, which was written over a period of about 1500 years. The authors were kings, fishermen, priests, government officials, farmers, shepherds, and doctors. From all this diversity comes an incredible unity, with common themes woven throughout.
The Bible’s unity is due to the fact that, ultimately, it has one Author—God Himself. The Bible is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). The human authors wrote exactly what God wanted them to write, and the result was the perfect and holy Word of God (Psalm 12:6; 2 Peter 1:21).
The Bible is divided into two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. In short, the Old Testament is the story of a nation, and the New Testament is the story of a Man. The nation was God’s way of bringing the Man—Jesus Christ—into the world.
The Old Testament describes the founding and preservation of the nation of Israel. God promised to use Israel to bless the whole world (Genesis 12:2-3). Once Israel was established as a nation, God raised up a family within that nation through whom the blessing would come: the family of David (Psalm 89:3-4). Then, from the family of David was promised one Man who would bring the promised blessing (Isaiah 11:1-10).
The New Testament details the coming of that promised Man. His name was Jesus, and He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament as He lived a perfect life, died to become the Savior, and rose from the dead.
Our statement on the Bible at NCC:
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, God’s recorded Will, through holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant, as recorded in the New Testament, we accept as our infallible guide in matters pertaining to belief and conduct.
The Bible is
1. The inspired Word of God
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
1. The inspired Word of God
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
2. Necessary to sustain the life of the believer
2 Timothy 3:15-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
3. The guide to salvation
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me
QUESTION:
Have you ever talked to someone who doesn’t believe in the Bible?
Have you ever talked to someone who doesn’t believe in the Bible?
Top 3 Criticisms
1. You cannot trust the accuracy.
Name | Original to Manuscript | Copies
Caesar's Gallic Wars | 900 | 10 good ones
Tacitus' Annals | 1000 | 2
Thucydides' History | 1300 | 8
History of Herodotus | 1300 | 8
New Testament | Less than 300 | 2 complete copies
New Testament | By 300 AD | 5K in Greek
New Testament | By 300 AD | 24K in other languages
In 1948, some Old Testament manuscripts (along with some non-biblical writings) were found in caves near the Dead Sea which dated as early as 250 B.C.E., about a thousand years before the Masoretic text. These are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Instead of being anywhere from 1000-3000 years from the original, these are as close as a few hundred. In the case of one of these scrolls – a copy of the book of Isaiah – the only difference between its text and the Masoretic text, was three words, and these only differed in spelling! Though over 1000 years separate these two texts, there are only three spelling changes! This shows the care with which the Masoretes and other scribes had worked.
1. You cannot trust the accuracy.
Name | Original to Manuscript | Copies
Caesar's Gallic Wars | 900 | 10 good ones
Tacitus' Annals | 1000 | 2
Thucydides' History | 1300 | 8
History of Herodotus | 1300 | 8
New Testament | Less than 300 | 2 complete copies
New Testament | By 300 AD | 5K in Greek
New Testament | By 300 AD | 24K in other languages
In 1948, some Old Testament manuscripts (along with some non-biblical writings) were found in caves near the Dead Sea which dated as early as 250 B.C.E., about a thousand years before the Masoretic text. These are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Instead of being anywhere from 1000-3000 years from the original, these are as close as a few hundred. In the case of one of these scrolls – a copy of the book of Isaiah – the only difference between its text and the Masoretic text, was three words, and these only differed in spelling! Though over 1000 years separate these two texts, there are only three spelling changes! This shows the care with which the Masoretes and other scribes had worked.
2. No non-biblical sources verify biblical text.
Josephus’ writings constantly verify biblical events, even naming a man who was violently beaten and crucified, Jesus, a man from Nazareth.
A Common Flood Story, The Code of Hammurabi, The Nuzi Tablets, The Existence of Hittites, The Merneptah Stele, Biblical Cities Attested Archaeologically, Shishak’s Invasion of Judah, The Moabite Stone, Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, Burial Plaque of King Uzziah, Hezekiah’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription, The Sennacherib Prism, The Cylinder of Cyrus the Great, the list goes on.
Josephus’ writings constantly verify biblical events, even naming a man who was violently beaten and crucified, Jesus, a man from Nazareth.
A Common Flood Story, The Code of Hammurabi, The Nuzi Tablets, The Existence of Hittites, The Merneptah Stele, Biblical Cities Attested Archaeologically, Shishak’s Invasion of Judah, The Moabite Stone, Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, Burial Plaque of King Uzziah, Hezekiah’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription, The Sennacherib Prism, The Cylinder of Cyrus the Great, the list goes on.
3. The Bible and science do not agree.
Creation
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," reads the story of creation described in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Schroeder, who earned two Ph.D.s from MIT, says those opening chapters are descriptions of the big bang itself. They are, as he says, "identical realities.” His thesis hinges on the fact that time is not a constant: It's relative, at least according to Albert Einstein. Schroeder insists that the biblical calendar begins with the appearance of Adam on the sixth day, not with the creation of the world. "Relativity," he says, "has proven the flexibility of time during those six pre-Adam days of Genesis."
2 Peter 3:8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
Wikipedia: “The universe, as presented literally in the Bible, consists of a flat earth within a geocentric arrangement of planets and stars.”
- The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
- Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
- And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth
Creation
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," reads the story of creation described in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Schroeder, who earned two Ph.D.s from MIT, says those opening chapters are descriptions of the big bang itself. They are, as he says, "identical realities.” His thesis hinges on the fact that time is not a constant: It's relative, at least according to Albert Einstein. Schroeder insists that the biblical calendar begins with the appearance of Adam on the sixth day, not with the creation of the world. "Relativity," he says, "has proven the flexibility of time during those six pre-Adam days of Genesis."
2 Peter 3:8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
Wikipedia: “The universe, as presented literally in the Bible, consists of a flat earth within a geocentric arrangement of planets and stars.”
- The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
- Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
- And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth
If you are going to speak to a non-believer about God, don’t lead with, “But the Bible says…”
They don’t believe what it says, and on top of that, they don’t trust it to begin with.
So you have to find the common denominator with that person.
They don’t believe what it says, and on top of that, they don’t trust it to begin with.
So you have to find the common denominator with that person.
1. Everyone has experiences
Talk about your experiences with God, and then use the Bible to back them up.
Talk about your experiences with God, and then use the Bible to back them up.
2. Everyone has issues
Find an area of their life that you have struggled with, or are struggling with, and then use the Bible to explain how God helped/is helping you.
Find an area of their life that you have struggled with, or are struggling with, and then use the Bible to explain how God helped/is helping you.
3. Everyone needs Jesus.
Jesus was a master at going from conversation to conversion.
Let them talk about their life and allow the Holy Spirit to direct you what to say and when to say it.
Jesus was a master at going from conversation to conversion.
Let them talk about their life and allow the Holy Spirit to direct you what to say and when to say it.
If you want to be able to teach people the way to Jesus, you need to have the Word of Christ dwelling richly in you.
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http://www.wearecov.com/gsc